The present invention relates generally to breastfeeding, and more specifically to an apparatus for preventing leakage during collection of mother""s milk, and transferring the collected milk into an infant feeding container.
Preparation for infant feeding may require the collection of the mother""s milk in a container suitable for short term storage until an appropriate feeding time. There are occasions when it is inconvenient or not possible for mothers to breast feed their infants. At such times the availability of a quantity of mother""s milk, in a suitable container, allows an infant the benefit of a familiar source of nourishment. A well known method for the collection of mother""s milk utilizes a breast milk pump generally comprising a hood, or shield, that fits over the breast, a vacuum pump connected to the shield for intermittent production of negative pressure within the shield, and a receptacle or container for the expressed milk.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,720,722 describes a device and equipment used for breast milk collection, and includes other references to breastpumps. As illustrated, the collection apparatus of U.S. Pat. No. 5,720,722 includes a shield which covers the breast, becoming engaged to the surface of the breast by suction during intermittent operation of the vacuum pump. Between cycling of the suction, the shield may release from the surface of the breast. This potentially allows expressed milk to leak from the rim at the perimeter of the shield. The loss of milk may be more pronounced when the shield is made from a relatively rigid material that relies predominantly on formation of a seal by the forward edge of the rim of the shield. To avoid this occurrence, a user of a breastpump may lean slightly forward thereby causing expressed milk to drain from the funnel-shaped shield downwardly into the receiver.
Typically, there is no facility provided that accommodates a mother utilizing the breastpump while in the reclined position. This can be particularly important in a hospital setting after the birth of a child, because this is a time when the mother is normally going to be reclined in bed, or otherwise resting in a reclined position. Furthermore, there is typically no provision for temporary fluid storage in the volume of the shield itself as further facilitation of breast milk collection in a reclined position.
In view of the above described issues, among others, the present invention has been developed to provide enhancements and further benefits in breastpumps.
Conical or funnel shaped shields, known in the art and used with breast pump arrangements configured according to the present invention, will now allow collection of mother""s milk in relative comfort, including reclining posture, without loss of liquid through leakage at the juncture of the arrangement and the surface of the breast. The inventive apparatus and method for leak-free milk collection, even in a reclined position, utilizes in one form a flexible sealing membrane that covers the mouth of the conical shield to provide increased and more consistent surface-to-surface contact between the breast and the incorporating assembly when the breast is positioned at the shield. Furthermore, the sealing membrane of this design provides accommodation for variations in breast size and shape.
In one contemplated embodiment, the flexible sealing membrane includes an aperture (also referred to herein as a hole, or access port) that is located approximately in the center of the membrane. It is through that aperture that milk passes into the shield""s interior and then to the collection container (bottle) attached to the shield. Milk having passed through the aperture, may occupy a temporary reservoir formed between the inner surface of the flexible sealing membrane and the inner wall of the shield. In a reclined position, collected milk may be retained in the temporary reservoir until repositioning of the apparatus causes the milk to drain into the collection container (e.g., the mother sits up).
In another aspect of the present invention, a modification may be made to the wall of the conical shield which conveniently allows continuous transfer of milk from the temporary reservoir into the collection container. This feature obviates the need for the donor to periodically lean forward to drain the temporary reservoir. The modification is preferably made in the form of a bypass tube short-circuiting the normal milk delivery path (through the narrowed portion of the funnel-shaped shield structure) when the angular positioning of the collection assembly prevents natural flow of milk into the receiving container. When the adaptation of the bypass tube is included in the assembly, the mother can remain in, or assume, a reclined position for the entirety of the milk expression procedure.
Conical shields with flexible sealing membranes, according to the present invention allow convenient, comfortable, leak-free, hygienic collection of mother""s milk. More specifically, the present invention provides a flexible membrane adapted for releasable engagement with a fluid collecting apparatus of a breastpump. The flexible membrane includes a flexible body having a sealing portion adapted to achieve releasable engagement upon a fluid collector of a breastpump assembly, and an access port adapted to abut a breast at an exterior side thereof. The access port and flexible body are configured to direct milk expressed from a donor""s breast across the flexible membrane to an interior side thereof. In this way, the flexible body is configured to establish a milk retaining space between the interior side and the funnel-shaped shield of a conventionally designed breastpump assembly.
In an embodiment, a latex material was used for the flexible membrane. Specifically, a condom has been modified by cutting an aperture at the closed end and then stretched about the normally open mouth of the shield to establish the flexible sealing membrane, and the temporary holding reservoir. The condom required no further modification than noted.
The beneficial effects described above apply generally to the exemplary devices and mechanisms disclosed herein for a breastpump assembly. These and other advantages and attributes of the invention will be further understood upon consideration of the following detailed descriptions of certain embodiments, taken in conjunction with the drawings described below.